Buzzing like Korsakov’s bumblebee in Singapore

by Martin Moodie |
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Martin Moodie

Martin Moodie is the Founder & Chairman of The Moodie Report.

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能者多劳 (An able man is always busy)

The words of venerable 4th century BC Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi quoted to me by my good friend Lu Tianqin of Hainan Hinews the other day seem particularly apt as I reflect on what must rank among the busiest of weeks in the 21-year history of ‘the website that never sleeps’.

It’s sunrise in Singapore and what a delightful view my room at the Marina Bay Sands offers to greet this new day. As I type I’m listening to Giacomo Puccini’s sublimely lovely ‘The Humming Chorus’, its serenity in keeping with the stillness of the Marina Bay waters in front of me and the calm of early morning Singapore.

I reckon though I need something a lot faster – let’s say Rimsky Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee – to keep up with the mission of the day ahead. I must have written 20 features in the past fortnight and I have five – yes, five, all averaging around 2,000 words – to get through today. And all the while news, some through press releases but much of it self-generated, pours in like waters through a collapsed dam, all in need of writing, checking, editing, posting.

This scene (in Changi’s arrivals zone) of Korean duty free giants Lotte Duty Free and The Shilla Duty Free in one airport will soon become a unique sight. For as a result of the recent Incheon International Airport tender, Lotte Duty Free will bid farewell to its home airport.

In a moment, I’ll head off to the hotel gym post my three morning coffees in a probably vain endeavour to ensure my body stays as healthy as my mind amid all this stress. Then it’s back to the keyboard, prepping for our Smile Raising Charity Dinner on Saturday night and the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference from Sunday.

It’s great to be back in a city that shares the same nocturnal habits as my website. My journey took me out of Hong Kong International Airport (how good to see Heinemann Asia Pacific’s Sweet Dreams back open) and into Changi Airport. Two of my all-time favourites, each now serving an ever-increasing passenger base. Encouraging to see.

You simply know you are in Singapore when you arrive at this magnificent gateway

The pictures will have to tell the story as I need to keep this Blog short. I have a mountain to climb. Make that mountains plural, as in Kā Tiritiri o te Moana (the Southern Alps) in my native New Zealand. It’s peak time indeed for the website that never sleeps and I am buzzing like Korsakov’s bumblebee.

All those eights must mean I am in for a lucky week, right?

Naturally I supported Sweet Dreams’ reopening. I am not sure, however, that munching my way through four packets of my beloved Brookside fruit-flavoured dark chocolate over the coming week is going to do much for my stress-busting fitness regime
Duty Zero by cdf has also reopened its splendid VIP Room and what a treasure chest of rare wines and spirits it offers